Tony Dovolani
| died= | hometown= Pristina, Kovoso | partner= 2: Stacy Keibler (3rd) 3: Sara Evans (6th) 4: Leeza Gibbons (9th) 5: Jane Seymour (6th) 6: Marissa Jaret Winokur (4th) 7: Susan Lucci (6th) 8: Melissa Rycroft (3rd) 9: Kathy Ireland (14th) 10: Kate Gosselin (8th) 11: Audrina Patridge (7th) 12: Wendy Williams (10th) 13: Chynna Phillips (9th) 14: Martina Navratilova (12th) All-Stars: Melissa Rycroft (1st) 16: Wynonna Judd (11th) 17: Leah Remini (5th) 18: NeNe Leakes (7th) 19: Betsey Johnson (10th) 20: Suzanne Somers (9th) 21: Kim Zolciak-Biermann (11th) 22: Marla Maples (10th) }} Driton "Tony" Dovolani was a professional dancer in Dancing with the Stars. Biography Retrieved from abc.com Tony Dovolani is balancing fitness, dance and family while capturing the hearts of millions each season on Dancing with the Stars. Born in Prishtina, Kosovo, Tony was proficient in Albanian folk dancing by age three and was inspired by watching Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly films. After immigrating to the United States as a political refugee from his native Kosovo, Tony trained at a Connecticut Fred Astaire dance studio and eventually became one of the most dominant competitive dancers in the country. A two-time dance champion and certified world judge, Tony brought his expertise to Hollywood when he coached Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere for the 2004 film Shall We Dance, in which he also had a small role. He then joined Dancing with the Stars for its second season and captured our attention with partner Stacy Keibler, when the two placed third in the finals. During the Dancing with the Stars All-Star Season, Season 15, Tony and dance partner Melissa Rycroft won the show and took home the Mirrorball Trophy. Tony and fellow dancers Maksim and Valentin Chmerkovskiy are partners in the Dance With Me USA Dance Studios in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Dancing with the Stars 2 Tony was partnered with Stacy Keibler. They placed 3rd. Scores Stacy and Toney S2 1.jpg Stacy_&_Tony_S2.jpg Tony-dovolani.jpg Dancing with the Stars 3 Tony was partnered with Sara Evans. They placed 6th. Scores Sara_&_Tony_S3.jpg Sara and Tony S3 1.jpg Sara and Tony S3 2.jpg Sara and Tony S3 3.jpg GW342H421.jpg Dwts 3 week 5 sara tony samba.jpg Dancing with the Stars 4 Tony was partnered with Leeza Gibbons. They placed 9th. Scores Leeza_&_Tony_S4.jpg Dancing with the Stars 5 Tony was partnered with Jane Seymour. They placed 6th. Scores Jane_&_Tony_S5.jpg Jane and Tony S4 1.jpg Dancing with the Stars 6 Tony was partnered with Marissa Jaret Winokur. They placed 4th. Scores Marissa_&_Tony_S6.jpg Tony_Dovoloni_S6.jpg dwts country.jpg Dancing with the Stars 7 Tony was partnered with Susan Lucci. They placed 6th. Scores * Score was awarded by stand in judge Michael Flatley. Susan_&_Tony_S7.jpg Dwts hustle.jpg Tony_Dovoloni_S7.jpg Dancing with the Stars 8 Tony was partnered with Melissa Rycroft. They placed 3rd. Scores Nancy_&_Tony_S8.jpg Melissa & Tony S8.PNG 87986 melissa-rycroft-and-tony-dovolani-dwts-week-one.jpg Lindy-hop-1.jpg Dancing with the Stars 9 Tony was partnered with Kathy Ireland. They placed 14th. Scores * Score was awarded by stand in judge Baz Luhrmann. Kathy_&_Tony_S9.jpg Dancing with the Stars 10 Tony was partnered with Kate Gosselin. They placed 8th. Scores Kate_&_Tony_S10.jpg Tony_Dovoloni_S10.jpg Dancing with the Stars 11 Tony was partnered with Audrina Patridge. They placed 7th. Scores Audrina_&_Tony_S11.jpg Tony_Dovoloni_S11.jpg Dancing with the Stars 12 Tony was partnered with Wendy Williams. They placed 10th. Scores Wendy_&_Tony_S12.jpg Dancing with the Stars 13 Tony was partnered with Chynna Phillips. They placed 9th. Scores Chynna_&_Tony_S13.jpg Tony_Dovoloni_S13.jpg 618 ustv dwts chynna.jpg Dancing with the Stars 14 Tony was partnered with Martina Navratilova. They placed 12th. Scores Martina_&_Tony_S14.jpg Tony_Dovolani_S14.jpg Dancing with the Stars 15 Tony was partnered with Melissa Rycroft. They placed 1st. Scores * The additional score of 9.5 was awarded by guest judge Paula Abdul. Melissa_&_Tony_S15.jpg Melissa and Tony S15 1.jpg Tony_Dovoloni_S15.jpg melissa-tony-freestyle.PNG Melissa-tony-win.jpg Melissa-Rycroft-and-Tony-Dolovoani-Win-DWTS-02-2012-11-27.jpg Melissa-rycroft-300.jpg Melissa-tony-front2.jpg Melissa.jpg Dancing with the Stars 16 Tony was partnered with Wynonna Judd. They placed 11th. Scores Wynonna_&_Tony_S16.jpg Tony Dovolani S16.jpg Dwts 16 week 3 wynonna tony samba.jpg Dancing with the Stars 17 Tony was partnered with Leah Remini. They placed 5th. Scores 1 Score was given by guest judge Julianne Hough. 2 Week 8 score was given by Cher. 3 The additional score of Week 10 was given by Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Leah_&_Tony_S17.jpg Tony_Dovoloni_S17.jpg DWTS-S17E01.jpg Dwts 28 week 3 leah tony instagram 10 3.jpg Dancing with the Stars 18 Tony was partnered with NeNe Leakes. They placed 7th. Scores 1The additional score of Week 3 was given by Robin Roberts. 2For this week only, as part of the "Partner Switch-Up" week, NeNe Leakes did not perform with Dovolani and instead performed with Derek Hough. Dovolani performed with Candace Cameron-Bure instead of Leakes. 3Additional score of Week 4 was given by Julianne Hough. 4Additional score of Week 5 was given by Donny Osmond. 5Additional score of Week 6 was given by Redfoo. 6Additional score of Week 7 was given by Ricky Martin. NeNe_&_Tony_S18.jpg Nene-leakes-tony-dovolani-DWTS.jpg Tony_Dovoloni_S18.jpg Dancing with the Stars 19 Tony was partnered with Betsey Johnson. They placed 10th. Scores 1 Score given by guest judge Kevin Hart, in place of Goodman. 2The American public scored the dance in place of Goodman with the averaged score being counted alongside the three other judges. Betsey_&_Tony_S19.jpg Betsey and Tony S19 1.jpg Betsey and Tony S19 2.jpg Tony_Dovoloni_S19.jpg Dwts.arnoldcarsonslater 74610748 813093889120515 2418282163756842646 n.jpg Dwts.arnoldcarsonslater 72338865 152125542723769 1861724689244867074 n.jpg Dwts.arnoldcarsonslater 70805258 421376478800059 2276514923872356752 n.jpg Dancing with the Stars 20 Tony was partnered with Suzanne Somers. They placed 9th. Scores Tony_Suzanne.jpg Tony_Dovolani_20.jpg Suzanne disney.jpg Dancing with the Stars 21 Tony was partnered with Kim Zolciak-Biermann. They placed 11th. Scores Kim-Tony-Promo21.jpg Kim-Tony-2.jpg Tony_Dovolani_21.jpg Dancing with the Stars 22 Tony was partnered with Marla Maples. They placed 10th. Scores 1 Score given by guest judge Zendaya. Marla-Tony-Promo22.jpeg Marla and Tony S22 1.jpg Tony_Dovolani_22.jpeg Marla-Tony-Week1-Quickstep1.jpg Marla-Tony-Week1-Quickstep2.jpg Marla-Tony-Week2-ArgentineTango1.jpg Marla-Tony-Week2-ArgentineTango2.jpg Marla-Tony-Week3-Jive1.jpg Marla-Tony-Week3-Jive2.jpg Marla-Tony-Week4-Waltz1.jpg Marla-Tony-Week4-Waltz2.jpg Marla and Tony S22 Week 4 Waltz.jpg Marla and Tony S22 Week 4 Waltz 1.jpg Marla and Tony S22 Week 4 Elimination.jpg Trivia * Tony met his wife Lina on a blind date in 1998 and proposed to her four hours later. They have been married since 1999. * They have three children, daughter Luana and twins Adrian and Ariana. * Tony was in the middle of rehearsals for the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars with partner Susan Lucci when he got the call that Lina had gone into labor. * Tony is good friends with fellow professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy. * Tony is the third professional to win after finishing last the prior season after Kym Johnson and Peta Murgatroyd. * He was the oldest pro to ever win the Mirrorball Trophy at age 39. Other Pics ChmergatroydWedding7.jpg ChmergatroydWedding9.jpg ChmergatroydWedding12.jpg Category:Males Category:Professionals